pain perdu
I am having a New Orleans withdrawal right now. Seriously. There's a great little greasy spoon restaurant that makes the perfect post-hangover breakfast...where they actually encourage a morning beer with your meal.
After we finished up our packing, moving, and cleaning last weekend, we decided to have a family breakfast at the house before the Man Friend went back to Pittsburgh. It's kind of a tradition to make French toast at our family breakfasts. It was my stepdad's specialty, so it was kind of special for me to make this for my family for the first time...and it met with positive results.
While his French toast can never be duplicated, pain perdu is a perfect combination help heal a broken heart and hold me over until I can make it back to our New Orleans greasy spoon. It's basically a hardcore version of French toast and it's delicious!
pain perdu
prep time: 5 minutes | cook time: 20 minutes
experience level: easy peasy | specialty: breakfast
- 1 loaf day-old French bread, cut into medium slices
- 3 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 1/2 cups low-fat milk
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 1/2 tbsp ground cinnamon
- Optional toppings (see below)
Heat a skillet on medium heat. Cut the butter into 6 pieces.
Add the milk, beaten eggs, and cinnamon together, mixing well, but not to the point of whipping the eggs. Dip the bread into the milk mixture. Melt one piece of butter in the skillet (one piece of butter for every 2 pieces of bread). Grill the bread on each side for 2-3 minutes, until well toasted, being careful not to burn. Work in batches of 2 pieces of bread at a time. Keep warm in the microwave or in an oven set to warm.
Optional Toppings: more butter, powdered sugar, maple syrup, strawberries, bananas, mixed berries, or Nutella.
